mileage

[chriscisme]

my deville has 116000 miles, i use synthetic adtake very good care of my car, how long do you think it should run if i plan on running it into the ground

also, if you have a caddy with alot of miles please list how much and what kind,,thanks

[Bruce Nunnally]

Mostly it depends on what repairs you can do yourself, your budget for parts and repairs, your tolerance for when repairs are needed, and most of all your attitude. The car will need repairs and maintenance.

As an example, I was reading an enthusiast article about a guy who had driven his Corvette for 300k miles or some similar amazing number. He loved the car (obviously). Along the way, he had replaced the engine a time or two, and the transmission, and various other things. Was his car reliable? Not in the sense that it went 300k miles with no repairs. But he loved it, and considered it a great car.

My advice is to repair each thing that comes up as it comes up. Then you don't end up in a situation where there are multiple things wrong with the car.

[Cadillac Jim]

Bruce has obviously got it right. From long experience with a few Chevrolets and a lot of observation here, and my 1997 ETC, I would add that preventive maintenance is important in keeping costs down. For the Northstar, the most important thing is keeping fresh coolant to avoid the head-leakage-overheating demon; I would put that above even the oil change mileage. I change green coolant one year and oil at 3,000 miles; others will say longer is OK. A transmission flush every 30,000 miles is a good thing too.

My opinion on other repairs such as struts, and high-mileage things like rusted brake lines, is that most of these things happen much later if you don't expose your car to a lot of salt every year. If you drive in the snow a lot, park it inside where it will melt off and the car will dry out overnight -- this doen't require a heated garage, just one that stays above 40 F or so at night. If you live in an area with occasional snow and a drown-it-with-salt-at-any-cost local policy, you should consider an all-over car wash right after each one, and you will find yourself in a line of cars owned by people like you.

[Poobah]

Mechanically, I think you could keep a Cadillac running almost forever. There are a number of our members with over 200,000 miles on their cars and I know of one or two cases where 90's era Cadillacs have logged over 300,000 miles. It all depends on your ability to keep up with preventative maintenance and your willingness to make repairs (sometimes expensive ones) when needed.

For me, the break point comes when the paint and interior start to go. In my opinion, there's nothing nicer that nice, clean, well maintained Cadillac (regardles of its age) but there's nothing worse than a shabby looking one. Unless a car is a garage queen, it reaches a point where the finish and trim gets harder to keep up with than the mechanical stuff. That's the point where I usually give up on a car and trade it.

[KHE]

A transmission flush every 30,000 miles is a good thing too.

A transmission flush is NEVER a good thing to do.... dropping the pan, cleaning the screens and pan magnet is the proper way to service the transmission.

[thu]

My 93 Deville has 298,000 miles. I maintain it like I maintain my airplanes.

I *never* flushed the tranny. I serviced it like KHE says.

I also had an 85 Deville. It had 238,000 miles before the water pump had a catastrophic seal failure causing the engine to overheat.

[GreenMachine]

speaking of tranny's I've read that the cadillac can go their whole lives with out needing a change...I don't find that true and is waiting for the change trans fluid light to long? I ask because its creeping up on 100,000 miles quicker and quicker and being a 98 that stuffs been in there awhile.

[Ranger]

Officially, I beleive that the owners manual says it's good for life if driven under "normal" conditions. Taxi service, towing etc are harsh conditions and I forget what they recommend for that. The trans fluid life is not like the OLM. It will only come on or decriment if the trans fluid is overheated. FWIW, I do mine at 100K.

[Regis]

Officially, I beleive that the owners manual says it's good for life if driven under "normal" conditions. Taxi service, towing etc are harsh conditions and I forget what they recommend for that. The trans fluid life is not like the OLM. It will only come on or decriment if the trans fluid is overheated. FWIW, I do mine at 100K.

Mine has been drained, screens cleaned, and refilled twice (every 100K). The only oil it gets is regular 10W-30. And this may seem odd to some that don't live along the snow belt but nothing rusts faster than a salt covered car in a heated garage. Any body shop around here will say the same..... aside from my personal experience. Best to leave it outside or in an unheated garage.

My 94 still has the original struts, engine, and tranny. I've had to service numerous parts along the way but nothing that wasn't regular wear and tear items. Like Bruce mentioned, you have to stay on top of the repairs and not let them get ahead of you. This discussion board and its members get a lot of credit for keeping the ol STS still roaring down the road. Thanks again.